


The Long Journey Home

by 18lzytwner



Series: LazyTown Second Series [10]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-06-01
Updated: 2009-06-01
Packaged: 2019-06-29 08:09:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 16,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15725406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/18lzytwner/pseuds/18lzytwner
Summary: The continuation of "Storming the Castle". Who is the survivor? How does LazyTown handle the loss of one of its own? And what has The Ministry have planned in retaliation?Again the age difference is not substantial.





	1. Chapter 1

**_A few days after the incident_ **

          The whole town had come out to say good-bye to the Mayor’s niece.  The pink haired girl had touched everyone and she would be remembered fondly.  Milford had asked Sportacus to deliver the eulogy however half way through his heart-felt speech, everyone was crying including the above average hero.  Robbie offered to finish it for him and he delivered it the best he could. 

          Now as the sun began to set, Milford stood alone as the funeral services men filled in the six-foot hole containing an empty casket.  The task was soon finished and the men were unsure if they should leave the Mayor alone out in the cemetery as dark was only moments away.  They were grateful that Sportacus arrived and the two scooted before they intruded on a private moment between the two men who loved Stephanie the most.

          “Come on Mayor.”  The above average hero said.

          “I can’t leave.”  Milford sighed.

          “Stephanie wouldn’t want us to dwell on what happened you know that.  There is a town that needs its Mayor.”  Sportacus pointed out.

          “What if I don’t want to be Mayor anymore?  What if nothing I do from here on out means anything?  All those I held dear are gone.  Why should I care?”  Milford wanted to know.  The blue elf had no answer for him only a sigh and a hand placed on his shoulder.  Mr. Meanswell heaved a sigh of his own and turned from the hero and the fresh grave at his feet.  Sportacus watched him go before kneeling down at the side of the grave.  Fresh tears streaked down his cheeks as he made a promise.

          “I’ll keep an eye on him Stephanie.  We’ll see each other again, I know it.”  He kissed the tombstone and lifted himself from the ground.  Brushing the dirt from his knees, Sportacus headed back into LazyTown.  There was work that still needed to be done and he couldn’t let Stephanie’s death stop what he had come to start.  She would be ashamed of him if he did.

          Meanwhile, in a hospital hundreds of miles away, doctors puzzled over the only surviving victim of the explosion.  They couldn’t believe anyone had managed to survive considering the fact that the crater measured almost half a mile wide.  The police had wanted to know when the patient woke up but so far, no such luck. 

          The brain activity suggested that the patient should be awake but still they remained in a coma-like state.  It was all very confusing and soon the doctors were discussing their options.  They were afraid to take the patient off the breathing machine due to the fact that a couple ribs had punctured the lungs, one of which had almost collapsed.  Other than that, no other injuries existed and they puzzled as to why the rib cage had taken all the beating.

          While they discussed, one of the nurses, who had taken a shine to the patient, tried to help out in anyway she could.  She would read to the patient on her lunch break, play classical music, or even bring presents over to liven the room up a bit.  The truth was the nurse felt badly.  No one had come forward when the news spread of the incident and no one claimed to know the patient.  With no identification, the doctors hadn’t given the patient a name.  Now, as she played some Beethoven on the radio, she hoped the patient would wake up.

          There was a gargled sound, like if someone was trying to talk with a tube down their throat, and the nurse looked at her ward.  Brown eyes stared at her and she quickly hit the call button, which alerted other nurses to the situation.  They rushed into the room and carefully removed the tube from the patient’s throat.

          “Where am I?”  The patient croaked out before being given some water.

          “St. Peter’s Hospital.  Do you remember anything?”  One of the nurses asked.

          “Remember what?”  The patient was confused.

          “Let’s start with your name.”  Another nurse suggested.  Silence followed and the patient thought about it before replying,

          “I don’t know.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Where do we go from here?”  Sportacus asked.  He’d called a meeting between the FBI, LazyTown’s Finest, and the kids.

          “We’ve been mopping up the mess around the country.  Interpol has all the information we gave them.  The only unfortunate part is that of all the active members there are still about fifty members on the loose in the US and about fifty in Europe.  We have no totals from Asia or Africa yet.”  Agent Sodja explained.

          “So what you’re saying is that those that are left still pose a threat?”  Stingy wondered.

          “Potentially.  The local investigators haven’t called us in as far as to have us help with the explosion investigation and we haven’t offered.  Once any remaining Ministry agents find out about FBI involvement, they will try to access our files.  Revenge is something the Ministry loves to dish out as I don’t need to remind you.”  Agent Hatten said.  Sportacus shook his head.  So far LazyTown was safe but for how long was something no one could say. 

          “What should we do to protect LazyTown?”  Chief Dooright wanted to know.

          “Nothing.  If there are any operatives in the area and they see you beefing up police patrols, recruiting more officers, or anything else out of the ordinary they’ll start digging.  They find some memo or report or even the latest gossip to see what you’re up to and then they’ll strike.  Their internal communication network maybe down but they haven’t lost all their contacts.  They are professional killers, computer geniuses, and masters of disguise.”  Agent Fox reminded them.  Robbie had been quiet up until he heard about the ‘masters of disguise’ part.  _Ah the good ol’ days_ , he sighed.  The ex-villain looked at Sportacus, he was always a shining beacon of happiness, which usually made him want to puke, but today the hero seemed worn down and melancholy.  It looked as though the blue elf hadn’t slept in days and he kept sticking his right hand into his pocket.  Robbie wondered what was going on when Pixel interrupted his train of thought.

          “What about installing plain sight cameras?  The police could watch the activity in the town and alert the Chief when they see something.”  Pixel wondered.

          “You have those?”  Hatten gave him a look.

          “Sure.  The FBI bugs things all the time.  It wouldn’t take much for Robbie and I to get a system up and running once we had cameras in place.”  The Gizmo Guy said.

          “It’d serve as an advanced warning system.  Any unusual activity and the cops report it to you guys.  You call in HRT and we take them out.”  Robbie liked this idea.

          “Invasion of privacy ring any bells?  Do you have any idea how many constitutional rights that violates?  You would need warrants up the wahzoo to cover that.  Not to mention how much that would not stand up in court.”  Sodja shook his head.

          “Who said you need a warrant?  I believe Homeland Security has that covered.  We are looking for terrorists are we not?”  Robbie smirked.  Figuring there would be a ton of replies telling him how wrong he was, the ex-villain continued.

          “They threaten this great union and therefore shall be punished as such.  Besides if no one knows about it they can’t bitch about their rights.”  Despite the implications, no one said anything.  Not even Sportacus.

          “With the right equipment, how long until you guys can get something working?”  Chief Dooright asked.

          Meanwhile, back at St. Peter’s Hospital, the doctors marveled at their patient’s recovery.  They had affectionately called her Pinky since what she had been wearing was pink and her hair was pink.  She was strangely comfortable with the name and never objected.  With her ribs and lungs on the mend she would need to stay at the hospital for at least another week or so before being released.  Since she had nowhere to go, the nurse who had doted on her, Susan Meadows, offered to take her in.  The two had grown close and Pinky had agreed.  Now asleep in her hospital bed, the girl began to thrash about.  Faces in her nightmares looked so familiar but nothing would come to her until she woke up screaming.


	3. Chapter 3

The first nurse on the scene found that all the thrashing and screaming managed to aggravate the patient’s condition.  Broken ribs and a collapsed lung are meant to be healed by bed rest and pain medication not violent motion.

          After the results of the X-rays came in, the surgeons found that they would need to operate to adjust the semi-healed ribs.  One had moved closer to her vital organs and they would be forced to use a bone injection to seal the two bones back together.  The surgery was quick but it would delay Pinky’s release from the hospital for at least a few more days.

          Later after she awoke from surgery, the pink one tried to remember the faces she had seen so as to regain her memory.  Her mind seemed to close off when the pictures came as if it was some horrible thing she shouldn’t know or that she wanted to have stay buried.  Susan entered the room and sat down in the chair next to her.

          “How are you feeling?”  She asked.

          “I have a little pain but nothing too severe.”  Pinky tried to smile.

          “Well the doctor wished he could have avoiding opening you back up but you worked yourself into such a tizzy, he didn’t have much of a choice.”  Susan explained.  Her young friend just nodded and turned her eyes to her lap where her hands rested.  The nurse could tell Pinky had a lot on her mind and wondered if she should pry.  Normally she hated to but a part of her knew that someone was out there looking for the girl and she had to help them find one another; no matter how much it would hurt to lose someone she viewed as the daughter she never had.

          “Do you want to talk about it?”  Susan wondered.

          “All I see are faces and images that somehow I’ve seen before but I don’t know how they fit together or who they are.”  The anger was evident in Pinky’s voice.

          “It will come in time you just have to be patient.  I’ll get you a pad of paper and a pencil.  Maybe drawing the faces will help us identify who the people are.”  The nurse smiled and left the room.  The pink one let out a gentle sigh and hoped her friend was right.

          Over in LazyTown, Sportacus lay wide-awake on his bed.  It was way past his usual bedtime but he just couldn’t sleep.  Something inside him refused to let him.  His emotions were like a roller coaster and more often than not, he found food managed to not stay in his stomach where it belonged.  Without his nutrition, he would be useless to LazyTown but he knew that going back to injecting himself with vitamins wasn’t an option.  He’d become addicted that way before and he wasn’t about to do it again.  Stephanie would never forgive him.  _Stephanie_.  His whole chest ached when he thought of her.  He had always envisioned the two of them living together until they were old and gray but now it seemed only he would be getting old.  A shout from below stirred him from his thoughts and he dropped the ladder down upon seeing the shouter was Robbie.  He didn’t really want to talk to the ex-villain but he had to get out of the airship otherwise his depression would probably worsen.

          “Hey Sportakook, listen I saw how you looked today at the meeting and I figured you could use someone to talk too.”  Robbie said as the hero reached the ground.

          “I appreciate the thought Robbie, really I do, but shouldn’t you and Pixel be working on something?”  Sportacus raised an eyebrow.

          “Poodle is sleeping.  His eyes went all crossed on him when we were working and I figured he’d better catch up on some rest.”  The ex-villain explained.

          “Ah a wise decision then.  How’d you know I wasn’t sleeping?”  The above average hero asked.

          “You just lost Pinky.  I figured you wouldn’t be sleeping anyway.  I know how much she meant to you.”  Robbie’s surprisingly sweet gesture made Sportacus kind of made him want to puke but he’d already done enough of that today and wasn’t in the mood to hurt his already raw throat.

          “Thanks, I appreciate that.”  The blue elf half-smiled.

          “Come on, I know this great place where we can get you drunk.”  Robbie gave him a slap on the back and the two headed for a local dive.


	4. Chapter 4

Robbie and Sportacus entered a local place called “Shorty’s”.  As soon as the bartender saw the ex-villain he gave a shout.

          “Well if it isn’t Mr. Robbie Rotten himself.  Come to pay your tab?”  He said jokingly.

          “Only if the beer has gotten cheaper, Mickey.”  Robbie joked back.

          “The usual seat then? And one for your esteemed guest?”  Mickey smiled. 

          “You got it.”  The purple suited man gave a nod and hobbled with his cane to the stool at the end of the bar.  Sportacus took the seat on the other side of the corner.

          “Hey Robbie good to see you man.”  The guy at the seat next to him smirked.

          “What’s happening Joey?”  Robbie greeted the big burly man and gave his hand a shake.

          “The usual.  Can’t stop the old lady from spending my paycheck.”  Joey said.

          “I warned you about marrying her.”  Robbie wagged his finger.

          “But did I listen?  You know sometimes love sucks.”  The friendly man shook his head.

          “We’re here tonight to forget about love so lets drink up.”  Robbie said as Mickey handed him a beer and gave the other to Sportacus.  Joey gave a nod and he and Robbie slammed their drinks down.  Sportacus made a face but tried some.  He felt it burn on the way down and slam into his almost empty stomach. 

          “Hey Mickey, the kitchen still open?”  The ex-villain asked.

          “You know it.  I got a fresh shipment of real Buffalo wings today from the Anchor Bar.  Want some?”  The bartender wondered.

          “Ooooohhhh boy.  Are they as spicy as last time?”  Joey wondered.

          “You bet.”  Mickey nodded.

          “We’ll take a bucket.”  Robbie smiled.  He turned to the above average hero who hadn’t said a word yet.

          “You’ll love these things.  We always get them hot.  Cleans out your insides that and you’ll need something so you don’t throw up.” 

          “Thanks, I think.”  Sportacus took another gulp of beer and looked around the bar.  Mostly regulars filled the seats at tables and the stools.  He recognized quite a few and there were some he didn’t.  The jukebox played some song he’d never heard before but the guys wearing the cowboy hats seemed to like it.  Another swig from the beer and the above average hero was starting to feel better.

          The wings arrived a short time later and Robbie and Joey dug right in.  Sportacus looked at the grease and hot sauce covered pieces of chicken and almost gagged.  He had no idea how to eat them or why he would do so but Robbie seemed to be enjoying them.  The above average hero picked up one that looked like a small drumstick and bit it.  Needless to say, the cook hadn’t gone light on the hot sauce.  Sportacus could feel his lips burning and his esophagus screaming.  Quickly he downed more beer to put the fire out.

          “Didn’t I tell you?  Good stuff.”  Robbie gave him a thumbs up and handed some white stuff to his friend.

          “Try the Blue Cheese with them.”  The ex-villain said.  Sportacus agreed to this and dipped another drumstick in.  This cooled the hotness but still required a beer chaser. 

          About half an hour later, the wings were gone and Sportacus had consumed about fifteen of them along with at least three beers.  Now completely buzzed and practically falling off his stool, the above average hero made his way to the jukebox.  He had to see what was on it because the country music was driving him nuts.  Robbie watched him hoping, the hero wouldn’t pick something sappy.  Much to his surprise, Sportacus picked “Juke Box Hero” by Foreigner.  It was the air guitar solo that got him worried.  Especially when the above average hero accidentally bumped into Big Bob.  Big Bob was usually drunk all the time so everyone avoided him but not the blue elf.  At that point, Bob took a swing and missed the above average hero by about three inches.  Sportacus seemed oblivious until the second swing connected his stomach.  That got his attention and he fell down.  Throwing up was immanent and that’s when the boys who enjoyed country music got involved.

          “You can’t hit Sportacus!”  One of them shouted.  They piled onto Big Bob.  The three hundred pound man tried to get them off and managed to throw one of them onto a nearby table.  That’s when a full out brawl broke loose.   

          Pinky sat up in bed drawing the faces that came to her.  She was very talented and the nurse couldn’t believe the detail she had put into them.  It was almost as if the person was in the room instead of being pulled from her memories.

          After Pinky fell asleep, Susan picked up the notebook and headed for the nurses’ station.  She grabbed the desk phone and made a phone call to the local police precinct.  The lieutenant promised to send a patrolman for the drawings.  Hopefully they could be used to identify the girl in the hospital.


	5. Chapter 5

Sirens wailed as the police arrived on the scene.  The bartender wanted someone to get the fight over with especially now that Big Bob was showing off his beer muscles.

          “Freeze!”  A young officer shouted at the mess of patrons.  A few of them listened only to get punched by someone else.  It wasn’t until the policemen started to Taser people that the crowd calmed down. 

          “Load them all into the paddy wagon!”  Officer O’Keefe ordered.  It was at this point someone noticed Sportacus lying on the floor in a pool of his own vomit.  Robbie had done the best he could to keep the above average hero from getting dirty or choking but when Big Bob threw him against the wall, he passed out.

          “Jesus.  Call the Chief and get an ambulance!”  O’Keefe raced over to the hero and the unconscious ex-villain.  The officer was able to get Sportacus sitting up and the blue elf slowly opened his eyes.

          “Wha’ ‘appened?”  He asked.

          “Long story; one I’m sure the Chief will love to hear.”  O’Keefe shook his head and the two patiently waited for the ambulance.

          “I don’t feel so good.”  Sportacus told the policeman. 

          “Whoa now.  No throwing up.  That’s an order.”  O’Keefe certainly didn’t want to have to clean up his shoes again.  It would be the second bar brawl in two nights that got ugly.

          “BARRRRRRRRP!”  The above average hero let out a loud burp.  It smelled of beer, wings, and sports candy.

          “Excuse me.”  Sportacus said before passing out again.

          “And to think I became a police officer because of you.”  The officer was becoming a little disillusioned when the ambulance arrived along with the Chief.

          Pinky stared out the open window onto the streets below.  She didn’t recognize the city and she certainly didn’t remember getting there. 

          “Ah there you are.  I was wondering what happened to you.”  Susan walked into the room finding her ward in a wheelchair at the window.

          “You know me, I like to run away.”  Pinky heaved a sigh.

          “That can’t be true.  I’m sure you’re here for a reason.  Still no memories of the explosion?”  Her friend asked.

          “No.  I have no idea what exploded or why I would have been there in the first place.”  The girl shook her head and let Susan wheel her back to her hospital bed.

          “Well the police have released the drawings you made.  Hopefully someone with recognize them or they will come in themselves.  Lieutenant Brady promised to send them statewide should he not get anything locally.”  The nurse smiled and carefully helped Pinky back into bed.

          “Then nothing left to do but wait and hope.  I just wish I had more memories.  I see all sorts of faces but names don’t come with them.  Everyday my body feels as though I don’t belong in it.  Its all very strange.”  The pink haired one tried to make sense of it all.  She wasn’t the only one.  The doctors puzzled over their patient’s blood work.  Every time they tested it, they got the same result, which made no sense.  The blood type wasn’t the problem.  It was the excessive amount of antibodies that had them wondering.  Her healing time had been shortened and it looked as though she’d be ready to go home the next day but it couldn’t be possible.  The second surgery should have delayed things more.  Their next course of action would change the game completely.


	6. Chapter 6

“Let me get this straight, Sportacus was in a bar fight?”  Chief Dooright shook his head at Officer O’Keefe’s side of the story.  The policeman stood outside the ambulance while paramedics checked over the blue elf.

          “Yes, sir.”  O’Keefe nodded.  At this point, the Chief looked at the above average hero and had no idea what to do.  He was unsure of who started it and why the town’s hero would have been involved other than to break it up.

          “Start questioning all those involved back at the station.  In the meantime both Sportacus and Robbie are under house arrest at the Mayor’s.  I’ll escort them there myself.”  Dooright told his subordinate.

          “Yes, sir.”  O’Keefe nodded again and signaled to the driver of the police van to hightail it to headquarters.  Then he left the scene in his car.

          “How is he?”  Dooright asked the paramedic about Sportacus.

          “He’ll be fine, mostly just bruises.  Probably has a bad taste in his mouth and could use a hot shower.”  The medical man smirked.

          “How is Robbie?”  The Police Chief wondered.

          “He’s going to have a nasty headache and probably some pain in his back.  We found him unconscious but he should come around soon.”  Came the reply.  Bradley nodded and said,

          “Have them put in the back of my car when you’re done.  I have to make a phone call.”  With that Dooright pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number he needed.

          Twenty minutes later, the Mayor was helping get the two men inside the house.  They dumped Robbie onto the couch and went back to get Sportacus whom they placed into the big armchair in the corner of the room.

          “What am I supposed to do with them Brad?”  Milford shook his head as they stood near the front door.

          “I don’t know.  I mean I know Stephanie’s accident was hard for Sportacus but I’ve never seen him drink before.”  Dooright heaved a sigh.

          “Well I appreciate you bringing them here.  I’ll make sure they find your office tomorrow morning.”  The Mayor said.

          “It’s already morning.  Have them meet me around lunch.  I have to go home and go back to bed.”  Bradley looked at his watch, which read two am.

          “You’ve got it.  Good night.”  Milford smiled slightly before letting his friend exit the house.  The Mayor then went back upstairs to his room.

          The doctor looked at the blood specialist and wondered what he would say to the results he’d shown him.

          “The level of antibodies hasn’t changed at all since you tested her?”  Dr. Von Crimple asked.

          “No.  We have no explanation for it and we thought your expertise may help us.”  Dr. McDowell said.

          “I haven’t heard of any reason before but perhaps I can discover a cause.  How long do we have before you must discharge the patient?”  Von Crimple wanted to know.

          “We can push it to two more days but after that the police will start asking questions.  They are paying for her medical bills since we have no idea who she is or where she comes from.”  McDowell explained.

          “Very well.  I’ll do my best.”  The blood specialist nodded and watched the doctor leave his office.  That’s when Von Crimple picked up his phone.  He had some people who might be interested in the newest samples he got.


	7. Chapter 7

“All right.  I’m going to ask a very obvious question and I want a straight answer.  Who’s idea was it to go to the bar?”  Dooright asked the two men who sat across from his desk inside his office.

          “Mine.”  Robbie manned up as he rubbed his temples.  The pain pills weren’t kicking in yet.

          “Uh huh and who’s idea was it to get completely wasted?”  Dooright asked another question.

          “I was shooting for drunk not completely wasted but I didn’t know that he couldn’t hold his liquor.”  Robbie said as he shifted in his chair.  He was trying to adjust his position to help his aching back.

          “I see and hitting Big Bob?”  The Police Chief wondered.

          “Apparently that was my fault.  My air guitar skills got a little out of control.”  Sportacus spoke for the first time.  Bradley shook his head knowing what he had to do next.

          “All right well despite your celebrity, I’m giving you the same punishment as the rest of the bunch.  A two hundred dollar fine or community service at the bar to fix the joint up.”  He said.

          “Two hundred dollars?  Where am I going to get that kind of money?”  Robbie gave him a look.  He didn’t get his weekly permanent disability check until three days from now.

          “Well community service it is.  Starting right after this meeting the two of you march over there and help Mickey clean up.”  Dooright told them.  Sportacus never objected and slowly stood up.  His lower intestines had been acting up all morning and he wondered what was going on.  Robbie managed to pull himself out of the chair and started hobbling to the door when he got bowled over by the above average hero.

          “What just happened?”  Robbie asked from the floor.

          “Sportacus made a beeline for the bathroom.  What did you feed him last night?”  Dooright wondered as he helped the ex-villain off the ground.

          “Hot wings.  I guess his digestive system can’t handle it.”  Robbie shook his head.

          “Well I’ll call maintenance.”  The Police Chief said hoping that the hero made it where he needed to go before he had any problems.  When he went to the phone Robbie headed out toward the bathroom.  _A case of the porcelain screamers probably_ , he thought to himself before shuddering.

          “You ok in here?”  Robbie called out not wanting to get too close.  The last thing he needed was to see something he shouldn’t. 

          “What did you do to me?”  Sportacus asked from the toilet stall.

          “Hey you’re the one that ate all those wings.  I just wanted to show you a good time.”  Robbie tried to stifle the laughter that was rising in his throat.  It really wasn’t that funny but for some reason he couldn’t help himself.

          “I’ll catch you later.”  With that Robbie took off for Shorty’s chuckling to himself and leaving the hero in misery.

          “So its true.  The girl has special antibodies.  Is there any way to accelerate the healing process?”  The voice on the other end of the secure phone line said.

          “If the body could produce more antibodies more rapidly yes, I suppose that could be true.”  Von Crimple hypothesized.

          “Excellent.  Get to work Doctor.  Call me when you have a prototype solution.  Revenge is close at hand.”  With that the phone call ended and the blood specialist set about doing what his boss ordered.  The Ministry would rise again to take it’s vengeance and what better way than with a group of super soldiers.


	8. Chapter 8

Susan helped Pinky from her bed, as today was the day she would be discharged into the nurse’s custody.  So far the pictures hadn’t found anyone and neither had the pink girl’s fingerprints.  The doctors and staff were amazed at the young woman’s recovery and wished her well as she left without the use of a wheelchair or any assistance.

          Doctor McDowell had alerted Von Crimple as to the fact that he had released his patient and that the blood specialist wouldn’t be getting any more samples.  Had told the doctor that he could not identify the cause for the extra antibodies and just seemed to shake the whole incident off as Pinky’s body handling the trauma she went through.  Little did the good Doctor McDowell know, that Von Crimple was using the blood for his own purposes.

          “So what do you want to do today?  I have the entire day off.”  Susan smiled.

          “I don’t know.  What’s fun around here?”  Pinky wondered.

          “We could go to the movies or the zoo.  Doctor McDowell said you shouldn’t over exert yourself.”  The nurse explained.  The girl shrugged.

          “Why don’t we go to your place and we can figure it out there.”  She suggested.  Susan nodded and pulled her old beat up car out of the hospital parking lot.  The car ride was relatively short as the nurse only lived a few blocks away.  After parking in front of the apartment complex, the two headed to apartment three a. 

          “Here we are.  Home sweet home.”  Susan was more smiles again.  Pinky looked at the kitchen and living room and noted they were a nice size. 

          “So where do I sleep?”  She wondered.

          “Right over here.”  Susan led her to the room across from the bathroom.

          “I know it isn’t much but I’m only a few feet away and so is the toilet so I figured it was a win win.”  The nurse continued.  Pinky looked at the room and a small smile found its way onto her face.  The twin-sized bed had pink sheets on it and the storage shelves near the closet were pink and white.

          “I know the walls aren’t exactly bright and chipper but the landlord wouldn’t let me change them just yet.  I hope you like the colonial blue.”  Susan said.  Pinky walked up to the wall closest to the bed and ran her hand over it.  The shade itself wasn’t bad but it opened something in her memory banks.  Blue was a good color; she liked it almost as much as pink.  Suddenly a tear streaked down her cheek. 

          “What’s wrong sweetie?”  Susan hoped she hadn’t upset the girl just because the wall was blue.

          “My mind is just playing tricks on me.”  Pinky wiped the salty tear away.

          “It’s ok.  We’ll get your memory back, you’ll see.”  It hurt to say that but she knew that Pinky wasn’t hers to keep forever.  She had a family out there looking for her.  They could still be the best of friends, no matter what.

          “Do you need a few minutes?”  Susan wondered.

          “No, lets have some fun.  I’ve been cooped up in that hospital for too long.”  Pinky smiled.

          “You’ve got it.  Come on.”  The two headed out to the living room to find out what fun things they could do today. 

          Later after visiting the zoo and walking around the city, admiring the architecture and famous hot spots, both were exhausted.

          “What do you want for dinner?”  Susan asked as they entered the apartment again.

          “I’m in the mood for Chinese.  Do you have any good places around here?”  Pinky wondered.

          “Sure do.  Let me get the menu.”  The nurse went over to the kitchen drawer closest to the refrigerator and pulled out a menu that looked like someone had spilled duck sauce onto it.

          “Sorry for the state of this thing but I managed to make quite the mess the last time I got Chinese.”  Susan laughed slightly and Pinky nodded.

          “Good thing it isn’t sticky.”  She laughed.  About twenty minutes later, both had arrived at their choices and Susan said she’d pick it up.  The place was a ten-minute drive away and she figured it would give Pinky some time to herself in her new room.  Once the nurse had left however, the pink girl whipped out the pad of paper and box of colored pencils from the book bag she’d received at the hospital.  There was a picture she just could not get out of her head.


	9. Chapter 9

Sportacus was feeling better after the afternoon’s earlier incident and ended up being quite helpful at Shorty’s.  Robbie on the other hand had a hard time of it with a cane in one hand but he was able to help the best he could.  Mickey offered them a free lunch considering all the work they did meant he didn’t have too and the fact that the whole fight was really more of an unfortunate accident.

          “So how bad is my tab Mickey?”  Robbie asked as he sat down on one of the bar stools after they were done cleaning.

          “A whopping one hundred and fifty dollars.”  The bartender told him.

          “Wooowee, well then I can give you seventy-five in three days.”  The ex-villain said.

          “Sounds good but when am I getting the other seventy-five?”  Mickey wondered jokingly.

          “Ah you know when I rack up another seventy-five.”  Robbie chuckled.

          “I thought so.”  His friend chuckled back.

          “Is there anything else you need us to do?”  Sportacus asked breaking in on the conversation.

          “No, it looks like I’ll be ready to open for Happy Hour tonight.  Thanks fellas.”  The bartender smiled.

          “And if not you should have quite a few checks coming your way to make up for it.”  The above average hero smiled.

          “This is true.  Now you come back but please remember to not involve Big Bob in your air guitar routines.”  Mickey chuckled which managed to get Sportacus’ cheeks to turn red.

          “I’m never going to live that down am I?”  He asked.

          “Oh no.  That one will go down in the history books.”  Robbie laughed as the two left the bar and headed toward Town Hall.

          Inside Town Hall, Milford was having a very distressing phone call.  Bessie had made sure to hold all his other calls and she even moved a meeting back so he could finish the long call.  The longer he was on the phone the more she began to wonder what was going on.

          “Afternoon Bessie.”  Sportacus smiled as he entered the building.

          “Good afternoon Sportacus.  All done at Shorty’s I take it.”  She smiled and gave him a wink.

          “Yes we are.  Is the Mayor busy?”  The above average hero wondered.

          “He’s been on the phone with a detective from FunkyTown for the past thirty minutes.  Milford’s never been on the phone that long.”  Bessie told them.

          “FunkyTown?  Where is that?”  Robbie asked.  The Mayor’s Secretary pulled out a map and pointed to it.

          “What would a detective hundreds of miles away want with the Mayor?”  The above average hero raised an eyebrow and thought about it.  Robbie had a funny feeling in his gut and said,

          “Get Poodle on the horn.”

          “Why?”  Bessie asked, slightly confused.

          “Just do it.”  Robbie’s tone was a little harsh and it surprised both Sportacus and Bessie but quick as a wink the Secretary had the Gizmo Guy on the line.  After she handed the phone to Robbie he said,

          “Poodle get over quick.”  With that he was done and Bessie hung up the phone.

          “What are you thinking?”  Sportacus wanted to know.

          “Hopefully that this phone call is a fluke and it won’t come back to bite us in our asses.”  The ex-villain shook his head and took a seat.  Now all they had to worry about was Milford flapping his lips.


	10. Chapter 10

“What’s going on?”  Pixel asked as he entered the Town Hall completely out of breath.  He had dropped the security camera setup he was working on and raced over.

          “You remember the name of that city near where we blew up The Ministry’s Headquarters?”  Robbie wanted to know.  He pointed to the place that Bessie had pointed to only minutes before.

          “Oh Hell…” the Gizmo Guy muttered.

          “Ok now someone needs to start explaining stuff and fast.”  Sportacus didn’t like the reaction from the younger man.

          “FunkyTown is approximately ten miles outside the blast area.”  Pixel explained.

          “Oh Hell…” this time it was the above average hero swearing.

          “Exactly.  There is no way they could tie us to the explosion but yet here our Mayor sits on the phone with a detective from FunkyTown.”  Robbie was less than thrilled.

          “Is there a possibility that something does tie us to the explosion?”  Sportacus wondered.

          “I don’t see how.  IAC was a walking homemade fertilizer bomb and we disconnected the circuits so he wouldn’t explode.  The only way he blows up is if there was some sort of malfunction but we received no malfunction warnings.  We were only notified when he began the internal countdown.”  The ex-villain explained.

          “No way anything survives that explosion to be used as evidence.  They should still be shifting through the pieces.”  Pixel said.

          “You think Walton messed with him?”  Bessie piped into the conversation.

          “The ol’ sabotage routine.  I suppose but she’d have to know her electronics.”  Robbie told her.  At this comment, Sportacus’ mind posed a thought, one he did not wish to vocalize.  What if Stephanie had fiddled with IAC?  She and Pixel were often exchanging technical jargon that totally confused him.  What if she had done it in an effort to exact her revenge?  His mind focused elsewhere when Mayor Meanswell exited his office.  He wasn’t surprised to see the three men standing there waiting for him, figuring Bessie had alerted them.  There was silence for a few minutes until Robbie’s impatience got the best of him.

          “Well what happened?”

          “Detective Edgar White from FunkyTown’s Major Case squad wanted to discuss what I knew about Sportacus.”  Milford said.

          “How would he know about me?”  The above average hero asked.

          “Seems he has a picture that matches your description and your name popped in the database as a hero and for the events last night.”  The Mayor told them.

          “A picture?  How’d he get that?”  Pixel wanted to know.  He knew that any security cameras inside The Ministry’s Headquarters would have been destroyed and that there were no exterior ones.

          “Apparently a witness was able to sketch up Sportacus’ face and gave it to the police.”  Milford’s nerves were shaky; it was obvious.

          “There is something else you’re not telling us.”  Robbie gave the Mayor a dirty look.

          “Yes I am.  Detective White is hopping the next plane to FunTown and then heading to my office.  He should be here late tomorrow.”  Once the sentence was out, Milford slumped into the nearest chair.  Inside his head, Robbie was screaming like a little girl and cussing like a sailor. 

          “All right, lets play it cool.  Any evidence of our involvement with the FBI and the explosion are safely kept at the Federal Building in FunTown and Poodle has his copies stashed in a safe place, he won’t find anything when he gets here.  Sportakook, you answer his questions and hopefully that will be that.”  The purple wearing man said.

          “Hopefully that will be that but what if he asks a question, I don’t know how to answer?”  Sportacus asked.

          “Then pray to whatever God you believe in that he has no physical proof of what we did.”  Robbie told him.


	11. Chapter 11

Sportacus paced anxiously about the Mayor’s office the next afternoon.  He’d been rehearsing answers to possible questions with Robbie while the Mayor was working with Pixel.  Surprisingly, the hero had been doing well with the lying part; it was Milford that bothered them.

          “I didn’t think you had it in you Sportawipe but you lie better than my mother does.”  Robbie smirked.

          “Somehow that doesn’t make me feel any better.”  The blue elf sighed as he placed his thumb and forefinger across his forehead and looked at the floor.

          “Mayor please for the love of the Internet try to get this straight.  All you have to do is say you had no idea about any involvement Sportacus might have in anything in FunkyTown.”  Pixel was getting very frustrated.

          “I can’t.  You know how hard it is for me to keep a secret.”  Milford replied.

          “You’re a politician for Christ’s sake!  They lie all the time!”  The Gizmo Guy had had it.

          “He’s got a point Mr. Mayor.  Poodle do you have the backup plan?”  Robbie asked.

          “Indeed I do.  I was kind of hoping we didn’t have to use it though.”  Pixel shook his head.

          “We don’t have much time.  Pull it out.”  The ex-villain said.  Pixel nodded and went into his pocket.  Pulling out what looked like the Neurolizer from Men In Black, the young man quickly put on his shades.

          “What are you doing?”  The Mayor asked.

          “Zapping your memory.”  Pixel smiled as he put his shades on.  Robbie turned Sportacus away from the light as the Gizmo Guy pressed the button.  A flash of light later, they were filling the Mayor in on the recent events in LazyTown all the way up to today minus of course what they didn’t want him to accidentally blab to the out of town detective.

          “How’d you do that Pixel?”  Sportacus wanted to know.

          “Simple.  The one in Men In Black erased your short-term memory.  I built mine to be able to erase up to months of the memory by triggering the long-term memory portion of his brain to have a sort of amnesia.  Technically he won’t get all of the memories back but certain items will trigger a response.  For example…” the Gizmo Guy turned to the Mayor and asked,

          “Did you hear about an explosion near FunkyTown?”

          “Yes but I’m not sure what that has to do with LazyTown.”  Milford answered.  Sportacus’ eyes went wide while Robbie chuckled. 

          “Best invention ever Poodle.”

          “Thanks.”  Pixel smiled happy with himself until the buzzer on the Mayor’s intercom went off.

          “A Detective Edgar White from FunkyTown for you Milford.”  Bessie’s voice came over the desktop contraption.

          “Send him in please.”  The Mayor responded.  Robbie turned to Sportacus and gave him a nod before he and Pixel left the office.

          “Hello your Honor.  It is a pleasure to meet you.”  The Detective smiled and stuck out his hand, which Milford heartily accepted and shook.

          “It is a pleasure to meet you.  This is out town hero Sportacus.”  He introduced the above average hero and the two men shook hands as well.  They all took a seat with the Mayor behind his desk and the two men in front of it.

          “So gentlemen, the reason I traveled so far to speak to you is because what I say cannot be said over the phone.”  Edgar explained.

          “Why is that?”  Sportacus asked.

          “We believe a terrorist cell is behind the explosion and I would hate to have that kind of a conversation over an unsecured line.”  Edgar said.

          “Understandable but I can assure you Sportacus is not a terrorist.”  Milford told him.

          “That am I sure of as well but it seems that one person survived the explosion.  This person drew a picture of Sportacus and I have to ask how it is possible they know you.”  The Detective turned to the above average hero.

          “Well though I have helped our local police on many occasions I have not been involved in any national spotlight so whoever it is probably knows me from LazyTown.”  Sportacus explained.

          “My thoughts exactly but we have no evidence to suggest a terrorist’s cell here in LazyTown or why if our witness was part of a terrorist cell they would involve you.”  Edgar said.

          “Very good point.  I know this is probably asking a lot but what is the name of the witness?”  The above average hero wondered.

          “Well you see this is where it gets tricky because according to the local newspaper, you buried her earlier this week.”  White told them.


	12. Chapter 12

Sportacus almost passed out when he heard the detective say that.  No one had expected Stephanie to survive the botched Teleporter incident and then the explosion on top of it.  Worse still they didn’t have an explanation to give Detective White.

          “Judging by your silence, I’d say you are surprised to hear that.”  The detective spoke up.

          “How dare you sir.”  Milford’s silence had turned to anger.

          “My niece is dead and you come here saying she is alive.  We buried her.”  The Mayor continued.

          “I can assure you, she is alive and well.  I spoke to her on the journey to LazyTown but I want to know the details behind the official story.  According to your local newspaper, you buried an empty casket after you could not find her body in the lake.”  White said.

          “Yes it was a horrible accident.  Stephanie went for a swim and my crystal alerted me to danger sometime during her swim.  By the time I got to the lake she was nowhere to be seen.  I jumped in and searched for her but I didn’t find her.  Rescue crews arrived to help but we could not find her.  The lake was dredged and surrounding rivers were checked but we never found her.  I blame myself.”  Sportacus was able to fill in some of the blanks after recalling what the paper had said.  Lucky for them, the police detective had done some homework.  The only part of that story that was true however was the last part about blaming himself.  He hoped the detective wouldn’t see through it. 

          “Why do you blame yourself?”  White wondered.

          “I am the town hero.  I failed not only in my responsibility as such but also I failed Stephanie.”   The above average hero heaved a sigh.  This was all too much for him and he could feel the emotions he’d tried to bury trying to poke their way to the surface.  Edgar nodded and asked,

          “Well Stephanie was discovered in the blast zone of the explosion I had discussed with Mayor Meanswell on the phone.  She is the lone survivor and only witness.  However, the blast has caused some amnesia and things only come to her in bits and pieces.  Do you know who these people are?”  He pulled out two pieces of paper from his case file and showed them to the two men.

          “Good Lord.”  Milford murmured; tears began rushing to his eyes.

          “They are Stephanie’s parents.  They were killed in a car accident when she was nine.  She came to live here with Milford after they passed away.”  Sportacus explained.

          “I’m very sorry.”  Edgar put away the drawings and shifted the focus of the conversation.

          “So any ideas on how she ended up at the blast site?” 

          “None.  The last time we saw her she was heading for the lake.”  Sportacus heaved another sigh.  The detective figured that this was all too much for them to bear and he nodded.

          “When can we see her?”  Milford asked, desperate to get the only remaining family he had back home.

          “Soon.  She seems to have no recollection of how she got to the explosion site, what the site originally contained, or how the explosion was triggered.  Our crime lab will be sifting through the remnants of the site for months.  I’ll talk to my superiors and let you know.  Now, I believe I’ve taken up enough of your time gentlemen.  Thank you very much.”  White stood and gave a slight smile before leaving the office.

          “Robbie and Pixel wish to see you Milford.”  Bessie’s voice came over the intercom.

          “Send them in.”  He said.

          “How’d things go?”  Robbie asked.

          “Better than you might think.  Stephanie’s alive.”  Sportacus told them.

          “Exsqueeze me, what did you say?”  The ex-villain stuttered.


	13. Chapter 13

Days passed and no word had come from Detective Edgar White.  Sportacus had called the FunTown FBI office to alert them to the situation and they informed him that FunkyTown had still not contacted them.  That was good the above average hero supposed but it made him wonder as to why the FunkyTown police were avoiding FBI contact, even with their local office. 

          Milford and Miss Busybody had used this time to clean up Stephanie’s room.  The Mayor had left it just the way it was when the twenty-two year old had disappeared.  Needless to say, there was dusting and laundry to be done. 

          Robbie and Pixel had finished the security camera setup and were now having the police install them.  In the meantime, both pondered how it had been possible for the pink one to survive the Teleporter’s beam or the explosion.  They had a few theories but no concrete proof of any of them.  Robbie even suggested that the survivor was in fact a Ministry plant trying to infiltrate their operation.  However unlikely that seemed, it caused both men to wonder.

          Trixie, Stingy, and Ziggy had been left out of the wonderful news for fear that the news would be too hard to keep a secret.  Really Trixie was good at keeping her mouth shut but Stingy and Ziggy weren’t and should she accidentally blab, the whole town would know within a few hours.  Besides they still weren’t sure when they’d get Stephanie back anyway.

          In FunkyTown, Detective White knocked on the door of Susan Meadows’ apartment.  He could hear the TV on and figured they were enjoying themselves, at least until he gave them the news.  Soon the door opened and Susan smiled at the detective.

          “Good afternoon Detective.” 

          “Afternoon to you to ma’am.  Mind if I come in?”  He asked.

          “Of course.  We’re just waiting for the pizza delivery boy.”  Susan let him in and showed him to the sofa.  Stephanie sat in a big comfy brown armchair on the other side of the room.  She smiled at the policeman and shut the TV off.

          “I have some news.  Good news and bad news, I guess you could say.”  He started.

          “Well we’ll take the good news first.”  Susan said.

          “Ok.  Well I have found Pinky’s family.  You have an Uncle in LazyTown.  You’re real name in Stephanie Meanswell and you are twenty-two years old.”  Edgar told them.

          “My Uncle’s name.  Is it Milford?”  Stephanie asked.

          “Yes.  He is…”

          “The Mayor of LazyTown.”  Stephanie was almost giddy about being able to fill in the details.

          “Yes.  He was very excited to hear you are alive and well.  I have spoken to my superiors and they say you can head to LazyTown as soon as you are ready.  Now that we know where you live, they see no reason to keep you here.  Should we have questions, we’ll call you.”  He smiled at her and then turned to Susan.  She knew that the good news didn’t extend to her despite the fact she was happy for Stephanie.  There was a knock on the door and Stephanie quickly answered it.

          “The state will no longer give you money toward Stephanie’s care.  They are buying her a plane ticket to FunTown and that is it.  I know this is hard but they have no choice.”  The detective told Susan while the twenty-two year old answered the door.

          “I understand.”  She gave a slight frown and a nod.

          “I won’t take up anymore of your time.  Enjoy your dinner.”  With that Edgar left the apartment and the two settled in for dinner.  Susan was quiet through the whole meal and Stephanie could sense what was going on.  Despite being anxious to set up a flight and get home to those who could answer the questions she had, the pink haired one felt sad.  Then she had an idea.

          “Would you come to LazyTown with me?”  She asked hoping her new friend would say yes.

          “I would love to.”  Susan smiled.


	14. Chapter 14

The sun shined as they exited the plane and walked down through the tunnel that connected the aircraft to the airport.  Susan had arranged to get the next few days off by trading shifts and calling in a favor or two that other nurses owed her.  Still that only gave her three days to travel to LazyTown, see Stephanie off, and catch the next flight home, a flight that had to be routed through MazeTown.  Susan didn’t complain; it was better than not being able to say goodbye at all.  Stephanie grabbed her hand, which brought her from her thoughts.

          “This way.”  The younger woman pointed to the sign that directed them down the corridor that would take them to a central meeting place for gates ten through fourteen.  After picking up their luggage, silence fell between them again until they rounded the corner and were met with glass walls.  People held signs looking for the people they were supposed to pick up.  Others hugged as they met the ones they’d been waiting for.  All of them seemed quite happy.  Stephanie’s smile turned into a frown when she didn’t see the one person she was looking for.  He was supposed to be there.  Susan looked at her and could see the disappointment on her face until they could both hear someone calling her name.

          “Stephanie!”  At this point, she let go of Susan and her book bag.  The pink one recognized the voice as if she’d been hearing it since birth.  Something inside her just knew it and when his face came into view she called out to him,

          “Sportacus!”  This was not the reaction he’d been expecting and he didn’t hide the surprise on his face.  Still the two looked quite comfortable when she wrapped her arms around him and he reciprocated.

          “I’ve missed you.”  He said quietly.

          “You have some explaining to do.”  She replied just as quiet.  Before he could ask her what she meant, Stephanie planted one on him.  This elicited a catcall from another familiar person and quickly the two separated.

          “Robbie.”  The twenty-two year old looked at him.

          “Well well the pink one remembers me.”  He smirked and she gave him a gentle hug.

          “Uh hi.”  Susan decided now was the time to introduce herself.

          “I’m so sorry.  This wonderful lady is Susan Meadows.”  Stephanie blushed as she’d forgotten her manners.

          “Detective White said you’ve done a lot for Stephanie.  How can I ever thank you?”  Sportacus gave her a hug.

          “No thanks necessary.  I was under the impression that her Uncle would be here.”  Susan said.

          “Unfortunately he couldn’t.  Something had come up and he had business to attend to.  The job of Mayor takes its toll sometimes but he will be the first person we see when we get back.”  The above average hero smiled.

          “I see, well then, why are we hanging around the airport?”  Susan smiled back and handed Stephanie her backpack.  It was obvious that the pink one was excited to go see her Uncle and was happy to be here with her friends.  The two walked on ahead holding hands and talking as if they’d never been apart.

          “Why don’t I carry that for you mademoiselle?”  Robbie smiled and bowed slightly indicating he’d take her suitcase.

          “Oh you don’t have to do that.”  She smiled back and made note of the ex-villain’s cane and how he leaned on it.

          “Would be no trouble at all ma’am.”  Robbie took the wheelie suitcase and hooked the handle over his cane hand while offering Susan his free hand.

          “Sportakook has a taxi waiting.”  He tried to smile without scaring her.  Surprisingly he’d been getting better at that which frightened him a little.   

          “Sportakook?”  The nurse looked at him with a slight smile.

          “Pardon the nickname, bad habit.”  The man in purple winked and they headed out to the front of the airport.  There they loaded themselves into a minivan taxi and began the trip back to LazyTown.


	15. Chapter 15

“Welcome Back Stephanie!!!!”  A cry went up from inside the Town Hall and the pink one could barely believe it.  Her uncle smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

          “I’ve missed you.”  He told her.

          “I missed you too, Uncle Milford.”  She smiled.

          “Pinky!”  Trixie tackled her best friend as soon as she let her uncle go.

          “Hi.”  Stephanie continued to smile.

          “Dog pile!”  Stingy yelled and this brought the miser and Ziggy down on top of the two girls.

          “Oomph.  I missed you guys too!”  She giggled from the floor.

          “All right everybody off of poor Stephanie.  You’ll have plenty of time to catch up after dinner.”  Bessie shook her head and Sportacus pulled everyone off the floor.

          “You must be Susan.  It is very nice to meet you.  Thank you for helping Stephanie.”  Milford smiled and gave her a big hug.

          “You’re welcome.  Your niece is a wonderful person.”  The nurse smiled back.

          “Pizza is here!”  Pixel shouted.  Quickly they all headed to the Town Hall break room for some food and drink.

          Later, Stephanie lay on her bed staring at the ceiling.  It had been a long day and she should be exhausted instead she found herself restless and staring at her alarm clock.  The digital display showed it was almost twelve-thirty and that meant she’d been laying there for about half an hour.  Sighing, she pulled herself out of bed.  Pulling off her pajamas and pulling on her black workout pants along with a pink top, she headed out of her bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen.  There she grabbed a bottle of water and found her sneakers.

          Once outside, she jogged until she hit the sports field.  So many memories of fun afternoons and lustful glances filled her mind.  She never really realized how much of her teenage years had been spent staring at the above average hero she called her best friend.  Then as if he’d been listening to her thoughts, Sportacus arrived.

          “So I guess I’m not the only one who isn’t sleeping.”  He smiled and leaned on the fence she was leaning up against.

          “I guess so.”  She gave him a smile back.  It was so good to see him again.  He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze.

          “You have no idea how heartbroken I was when you didn’t make it back.”  Sportacus said.

          “It was probably the same way I was feeling when I realized what was going on.”  She told him as she lifted herself off the fence and leaned onto his chest.

          “At the airport, you said I had a lot of explaining to do.”  He kept his voice down though he really wasn’t sure why.

          “That blood you gave me.  There is something you aren’t telling me.”  Stephanie gave him a look.  She didn’t seem upset but he could tell it was bothering her.

          “I have special antibodies.  Ones that make me heal faster and age slower than a normal human.  You now have that gift.”  The explanation was simple and all she really needed.

          “So does that mean we’ll outlive our friends?”  She wondered.

          “Possibly.  As far as I know, a transfusion like yours has never been done before.  Obviously it was a good thing you had it when the explosion occurred.”  He wrapped his arms tightly around her.  It felt good to hold her again and he was surprised how well she was taking him covering up the truth.

          “Yes, it was but why didn’t you feel you could tell me?”  Stephanie pulled her head up and looked into his eyes.

          “To be honest, I wasn’t sure if it would work.  It saved you before but that wouldn’t mean your body would produce anymore of it.  Since there was no record of it being tried before I didn’t want to give you a false sense of your abilities.  That would only lead to bad things and we’ve dealt with enough bad things for more than one lifetime.”  The blue hero told her.

          “That is true.  You know I never lost my memory.  It was all right there.  I just didn’t know how much the local police knew and I certainly didn’t want to bring it up.  Plus I didn’t know who to trust.  Thanks to your blood, I managed to heal quickly and play a good game of innocent bystander.  I think my naiveté has officially gone out the window.  I’ve seen too much, done too many things to ever be innocent again.”  Stephanie heaved a sigh.  Sportacus only nodded.  He knew the feeling.  Slowly, the two pulled apart and walked hand in hand back to the Mayor’s house.

          Upon entering the domicile, Stephanie kicked off her shoes and realized that something was missing.

          “Susan’s shoes aren’t here.”  She whispered.

          “Let’s see if she is in the guest room.”  His tone matched hers and they snuck down the hall together.  Sure enough the guest bedroom was empty.

          “Where did she go?”  Stephanie wondered.


	16. Chapter 16

The front door opened cautiously as Susan emerged from behind it.  She kicked her shoes off and headed back down the hall toward the guest bedroom.  Needless to say she got the shock of her life when she entered the room and the lights came on without her touching the switch.

          “Hello there.”  Stephanie smirked.

          “You scared me.”  Susan removed her hand from her chest area and gave the younger woman a look.

          “Imagine my surprise to find you sneaking around at three-thirty in the morning,” the pink one said.

          “Imagine my surprise to find you in my room.”  The nurse raised an eyebrow.  Something weird was going on.

          “Yes well, I had no choice after discovering your shoes missing from the kitchen about three hours ago.  Forgive my suspicious nature but after Sportacus filled me in on what happened before I ended up in FunkyTown.  Someone obviously has issues with me or my uncle.”  Stephanie’s tone softened slightly.

          “It’s all right.  You have every reason to be suspicious after someone obviously tried to kill you and no one has been caught yet.  I’m afraid my reason for sneaking off though was quite innocent I assure you.”  Susan explained.

          “You have shown no reason for me to doubt you after everything you’ve done.  I apologize.  Perhaps you’ll feel more up to talking about it later.”  The twenty-two year old smiled wearily.  She really needed some sleep and for whatever reason, her new friend wasn’t exactly being forthcoming.  Perhaps she could get Pixel to take a look-see through those cameras Sportacus had told her about.  Heading for the door, Stephanie was stopped by her friend.

          “You have to swear you won’t say anything.”

          “I swear.”  The young woman smiled.

          “I went to see Robbie.”  Susan almost blurted it out.

          “Robbie?  What for?”  Stephanie couldn’t believe it.

          “We had gotten to talking earlier and he invited me over to his place for a drink sometime before I went back to FunkyTown.  I knew you were safe here with your uncle and Sportacus always seems to be around so I went over to his place shortly after everyone went to bed.”  She told her.

          “How’d you find it?  You can only find it if you know where it is.”  The twenty-two year old was concerned where this was headed.

          “He told me it was behind the old cow billboard.  It really wasn’t hard to find.  Anyway we got to talking and drinking and one thing led to another and…” Susan trailed off and it was now that Stephanie was going to be sick.  The thought of Robbie doing anything like that just made her squirm as she could feel the bile rising to the back of her throat.  Of course he was a human being and he had feelings too but after everything they’d been through, she’d never looked at Robbie in any other way than a good friend.

          “I’ve never done something like that before.  I mean I…” Susan trailed off again as she collapsed onto her bed.

          “Well no need to speak of it.  Why don’t you get some sleep and I’ll go gargle my mouth out.”  Stephanie said.  It was a strange thing to say and Susan had a puzzled look on her face but didn’t ask any questions as her friend left the room.

          Meanwhile, Dr. Von Crimple was up late in his lab trying to crank out the formula for the antibody production.  He’d managed to raise the level of the body’s protectors but had yet to figure out if his serum would work.  With no test subjects at his disposal, the only way to find out if it worked was to use it on himself.  Looking at the clock, he heaved a sigh and picked up a syringe full of his newest batch of antibodies. 

          “It’s now or never Crimple.”  He told himself and the walls surrounding him. 

          “This is no time to get cold feet.  Science is foundation of life.”  That last comment was in an effort to get his mind to agree with the rest of his body.  Quickly he stabbed the syringe into his thigh before he could think about turning back.  He waited a few moments to see how he felt.  He didn’t feel any different and that’s when he knew he had to test it someway.  He removed the needle from his leg and headed over to a drawer in his desk.  Pulling out a thirty-eight caliber handgun, he aimed the snout of the weapon at his foot.

          “In the name of science!”  He screamed as he pulled the trigger.


	17. Chapter 17

There was a knock on the front door of the Meanswell home and the Mayor was the first to answer it.  He was in the middle of making pancakes and hoped they wouldn’t burn to the bottom of the skillet.

          “Ah good morning Sportacus.  Please come in.”  Milford smiled and then headed back to his breakfast.

          “It smells good Mayor.  I was hoping Stephanie was up.”  The above average hero smiled as he took a seat at the kitchen table.  Looking out the window, he could tell it was going to be another beautiful day.

          “She’s still sleeping but I know the smell of pancakes will get her out of bed.”  Milford was happy to have his niece back and it showed.

          “I’m sure.  Do you want some help?”  Sportacus wondered.

          “If you could set the table, it would be great.  You already know where everything is.  Will you be joining us?”  The Mayor wondered.

          “I wouldn’t want to impose.”  The blue elf told him as he grabbed plates out of the counter.

          “No imposition.  You eat here quite regularly, I’m ok with making larger portions.”  Milford turned and winked to him.

          “Then I humbly accept your offer.”  Sportacus smiled and grabbed one extra plate out of the cupboard before heading for the table.

          “I smell pancakes.”  Stephanie said as she entered the kitchen, still in her pajamas.

          “Your favorite.  I have strawberries to cover them.”  Milford put down the large spatula and gave her a morning hug.

          “Let’s eat!”  She smiled and then turned her attention to the other person in the room.

          “My you’re here early.”  She teased.

          “You know me.  I can’t stay away.”  He gave her a big smile along with a hug.  She pulled his ear near her lips and whispered,

          “We need to talk about last night.”  The above average hero nodded and knew the conversation would be interesting.

          “Morning.”  Susan came in and smiled to everyone.  She looked rather perky until she saw Sportacus. 

          “Good morning.  Pancakes are ready.  You have excellent timing.”  Milford quickly put the plate full of the breakfast on the table and Stephanie helped Sportacus grab the silverware and glasses.

          “Do you guys always put out a spread?”  Susan asked, concerned they were doing this because of her.  

          “Yes.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”  The Mayor smiled and poured some orange juice into everyone’s glasses.

          “I usually grab a Pop Tart and I’m out the door.  I don’t have much time in the morning.”  Susan told them.

          “Well then this is a treat.”  Milford was still as smiles until the phone rang. 

          “That must be Bessie.  She’s the only one who would call in the morning.”  He answered it, leaving the three to their own devices for a few minutes.

          “So sleep well?”  Sportacus asked either woman at the table.

          “You have no idea.”  Stephanie smirked.  He was about to ask her what she meant when Milford came back to the table.  It was about the same time that Sportacus’ crystal went off.

          “That’s not good.”  Stephanie said while Susan just sat there puzzled as to what was happening.

          “That was Bradley.  You’d better get over to Robbie’s.  Something has happened.”  Milford watched as Sportacus took off for the ex-villain’s house.  Stephanie raced to her room and quickly threw on some clothes before following the hero.


	18. Chapter 18

Little did our heroes know what had been going on while they slept.  Dr. Von Crimple had successfully tested his antibody enhancement solution.  Upon shooting himself in the foot, Von Crimple was in immense pain and blood was all over the floor of his lab.  He screamed and cried for a good twenty minutes as he attempted to remove the shoe, which the thirty-eight caliber slug had penetrated.

          Once the shoe was off, he then moved to the sock which got into his wound and made it that much more difficult to remove.  There was more screaming and crying but eventually the sock came off.  Now checking the length of time between the shooting and the removal of his outerwear, Von Crimple noted it had been forty minutes.  He also noted that the bleeding had stopped and he was able to locate the smashed up bullet on the tile floor.

          Within the next twenty minutes, the hole in the bottom of his foot was gone and he was able to walk over and get a mop to clean up the mess.  Retrieving some bleach, the blood analyst made fast work of the remaining blood.  Looking at his foot, he was practically cured.  All that remained was a small hole, which left a small scar on the top of his foot when the healing process had completed.  Immediately he began to make more of the solution and called his bosses at the Ministry.

          Needless to say they were impressed and promptly ordered him to continue making the solution while they took what he had completed.  Within the hour, they had injected five of their agents with the solution and then they were sent out on assignment.

          “What the hell happened in here?”  Bradley asked Sportacus as they stood in Robbie’s living room.  It was a mess.  Things strewn about and a well documented bullet hole in the ex-villain’s favorite orange fuzzy chair.

          “Normally, I’d chalk it up to Robbie being a slob but that bullet hole has me worried.”  The above average hero shook his head. 

          “Yes, there is no blood so we can assume that the assailant missed but there is no blood anywhere else in the place.  Who comes to kidnap someone and fires a gun at them?  Usually there is a lot of threatening involved but never actually any deadly violence.”  The Police Chief was stumped.  Stephanie, who hadn’t said a word since she arrived there, grabbed Sportacus’ arm and pulled him down so she could talk to him in private.  Upon whispering her concerns, the hero nodded and turned to Dooright and asked,

          “Would you accompany us to the Mayor’s house?”  The question was odd considering they were in the middle of an investigation but the Chief sensed that something else was going on.

          “Forensics can finish up here.”  He nodded and turned to the lead forensic investigator.  After a few moments, the three were on their way to the Mayor’s house.

          They entered the home without knocking and caught Milford off guard as he was washing the breakfast dishes in the sink.

          “What’s going on?”  He asked.

          “Where is Susan?”  Stephanie wanted to know.

          “She went into her room shortly after you left and hasn’t come out.  She didn’t even finish her pancakes.”  Milford looked disappointed.  His niece gave him a slight smile and then led the two men down the hall.  Curious, her uncle followed as well.

          “Susan, we need to talk.”  Stephanie said as she knocked on the door.

          “Come in.”  She called but they could tell she sounded upset.  Quickly all four entered the room and closed the door behind them.

          “What have you done with Robbie?”  Stephanie asked her.


	19. Chapter 19

“What are you talking about?!”  Susan gave her a look, one that conveyed her confusion.

          “There’s a bullet hole in Robbie’s chair and he’s missing.  You were the last one to see him.”  Stephanie laid it out for her.       

          “He was still there when I left him and there was no bullet hole.  How can you accuse me of doing anything to him?”  The nurse was thoroughly confused now.  Here she thought they were friends and now they were accusing her of hurting Robbie.

          “What were you doing at Robbie’s anyway?”  Chief Dooright wanted to know.

          “He invited me over for drinks.  We talked, laughed, and…” that’s where the sentence died an a look of embarrassment crossed her face.  Her dirty laundry was being aired out in front of everyone. 

          “You were…” Mayor Meanswell didn’t look so good.

          “ _We_ were doing what _we_ wanted to.”  The voice behind them startled everyone half to death.

          “Robbie!”  Susan was glad to see him.  The ex-villain pushed past everyone and sat down on the bed next to her.  He pulled her into a hug and looked at everyone else in the room.

          “What the hell are you doing?”  He wanted to know.

          “She snuck off during the middle of the night, at first refused to tell me where she’d been, and then you went missing.  How do we know she hasn’t been working for the Ministry this whole time?”  Stephanie asked.

          “Because if she was working for the Ministry she would have stuck around to see her buddies come after me.”  The purple wearing man explained.

          “The bullet hole?”  Sportacus raised an eyebrow.

          “That was me.  I shot at the bastards when they came into my home.”  Robbie told them.

          “Bastards as more than one?”  Dooright wanted to know.

          “Yeah there were three of them.  They tried to catch me off guard.  I was in the kitchen eating cake when they tried to jump me.  Lucky for me I keep the Glock stashed next to the microwave.”  Robbie said as he let go of Susan who sat upright again.  Stephanie noted that he still held her hand in his.  

          “Since when do you have a Glock?  That violates parole.”  Dooright wasn’t happy to hear that.

          “Parole?”  Susan looked at the man next to her.

          “Long story.  Anyway I shot one and then fired at the others.  In order to get away, I headed back toward the tube and those goons followed me.  I fired a few more times, downing another one.  Then the last one caught me at my chair.  We struggled for the weapon and when it went off, he just stood there and looked at me.  You know I expected blood and stuff but I didn’t see any.  Then the next thing I remember is waking up in the middle of the woods.”  Robbie told them.

          “They left you in the middle of the woods?  Did they do anything to you?”  Sportacus was concerned.

          “Not that I can tell.  Everything seems to be in the right place.  Although I do have some scratches on my arms.”  The ex-con showed them as he let go of Susan and pulled back his sleeves. 

          “Huh.”  The above average hero said.  Stephanie turned him, knowing that something was going on in that head of his.   

          “What is it?”  She asked.

          “No time for that now.”  An unfamiliar voice made them all look to the doorway.  A man wearing black pants, shoes, and a shirt stood there holding a gun.

          “Hey that’s mine!”  Robbie said.

          “It’ll be a shame when they find you all dead with his bullets in you.”  The man smirked.

          “You and what army buddy?”  Sportacus tensed his arms, ready to fight if necessary.  The muscles in his arms rippled and the man at the door could see that the hero could do some serious damage. 

          “Paul, Sean, Doug, and Danny, why don’t you say hi to our guests?”  The four appeared behind him and entered the room.  Robbie looked like he’d seen a ghost.

          “Now why don’t you all take a seat on the bed?”  He asked.  Sportacus knew they still outnumbered their enemy but it was obvious that the men who entered the room had weapons and he wasn’t about to risk anything.  They all sat on the bed and watched as the other four grabbed Susan and Stephanie. 

          “They’ll be coming with us.  Say goodbye to your women.”  The still unnamed man smirked as the others left the room.  This Sportacus would not stand and he made an attempt to rush the intruder.  He was fast and he caught him before he could fire the weapon.  They struggled on the floor until they heard the sound of footsteps rushing down the hall.  His colleagues beat on the hero with their fists until he relented when a knife was pressed against his throat.

          “Tie them up.”  The leader ordered.  The four were tied together with rope and left on the bed.  Once the men disappeared with the girls, Robbie looked at Sportacus and said,

          “I shot three of them earlier this morning.”


	20. Chapter 20

“What do you mean you shot them?  They look pretty good to me.”  Sportacus asked trying to get his brain back into focus.  Things were a little foggy and he hurt all over.  Those fists had felt like bricks as they had slammed into him.

          “I meant what I said.  I shot Sean, Doug, and Paul this morning.  At least one of them caught a nine millimeter round in the chest.”  Robbie told them.

          “Something hinky is afoot but no time for that now.  Who knows what they’ll do to the girls.”  Chief Dooright shifted the focus back to their current situation.

          “Yes.  Any ideas Sportakook?”  Robbie wondered.

          “I need everyone to hold still for a minute.”  The above average hero told them.  Everyone did as he said and this allowed Sportacus to focus.  Squeezing his fists, the blue elf controlled his muscles, forcing them to expand.  First his forearms, then his upper arms, followed by his shoulders and chest.  The rope was getting tighter and tighter and the pressure was immense but still the above average hero squeezed with all his might.  Then the rope snapped and they were free.

          “Now what?”  Milford asked.

          “He brings up an excellent point.  What next?  We don’t know where they took the girls.”  Robbie said.

          “Pixel should be able to help us with the camera system.  Meanwhile, Chief put out a bulletin.  We need every cop in LazyTown looking for them.”  Sportacus took charge.  Dooright nodded and ran back to the police station while the three went to Pixel’s house.

          “What happened?”  The Gizmo Guy was slightly confused.

          “Just look up the tapes.  We need to see where they went.”  Sportacus smiled but underneath he was losing his patience.  He had just gotten Stephanie back he wasn’t about to lose her again.

          “You got it.”  Pixel quickly pulled up a program and inputted Stephanie’s picture.  The program then searched all the footage looking for the pink haired girl in the time frame it had been given.

          “How long will this take?”  Milford wanted to know.

          “There is a lot of footage to comb but I’ve made this the top priority so all background applications have been shut off or allotted less memory.”  The young man explained.

          “Uh huh.”  All that explanation had done was to confuse the technologically challenged Mayor.  Just then the computer beeped and images of Stephanie flashed across the multiple screens.

          “Ok here we go.”  Pixel smirked as his latest creation had given them the ability to catch the evildoers in the act.

          “If they were trying to kidnap the girls and escape town, they didn’t do a very good job of it.”  He commented.

          “What do you mean?”  Sportacus asked.

          “The last place I have them on tape is outside the abandoned castle tower.  They should be inside.”  Pixel told them.

          “Mayor, call the Chief.  Have him bring SWAT.  Robbie and I will get there first.”  Sportacus ordered.  Then, in what Robbie considered a very undignified act, the hero picked up the ex-villain in his arms and raced off to the tower.


	21. Chapter 21

“Put me down!”  Robbie screeched as they approached the castle tower.  Unfortunately for him, Sportacus did as he asked but not exactly gently.  Suddenly Robbie found himself falling and landing on his rear.

          “Ow!”  He cried out.

          “Shhhh!”  Sportacus clamped a hand down over the ex-villain’s mouth.  Robbie then licked the hero’s hand and Sportacus quickly pulled it away from his mouth.

          “That’s disgusting.”  The above average hero said.

          “All’s fair in love and war.”  Robbie smirked.  This only caused the hero to roll his eyes before focusing on the tower.  No one stood outside guarding the entrance.  It would have raised suspicions with the locals and it made it more difficult to tell how many people were inside.

          “Any ideas?”  Robbie wondered.

          “We can’t wait for SWAT.  We have to go in.”  Sportacus told him.

          “Yeah, a cripple and a muscle-bound man with no weapons.  Don’t know about you but I don’t need any nine millimeter sized holes in me, thanks.”  The ex-con shook his head.

          “Then we need a little backup.”  The above average hero whistled and Robbie could see the airship moving towards them.

          “Must be a new feature.”  He muttered wondering what the blue elf had up his sleeve.  The more he thought about it the more it made him nervous.

          “Oh come on now, why can’t I have a little bit of fun?”  Doug asked the leader of their group.

          “If by fun, you mean assaulting the pink one, I think not.  We have a job to do and we’re going to do it.”  The leader shot him a glare.

          “But Bobbie, they’re going to die anyway.”  Doug tried to give a reason for what he wanted to do and all it did was make Bobbie’s stomach turn.  The Ministry had been letting their standards slip when they let that sicko into the fold.

          “I said no.  Now get back to setting the explosives with Paul.”  With that order, Doug went back to work rigging the explosives to the timers.

          “And they gave him the injection.”  Danny said as he walked up to Bobbie.

          “Yes, I wish we could leave him behind but there’d be a good chance he’d survive the explosion plus I’d get demoted.”  Bobbie told him.  Danny nodded.  Doug must have known someone because he certainly got away with a lot of things.

          “We’re all set.”  Paul called out.

          “Not a moment too soon.  Seems we have company.”  Sean yelled from his position near the door.

          “Who?”  Bobbie wanted to know.

          “It’s a giant blue airship.”  The Irishman reported.  This Bobbie had to see for himself and he ran over to the door.

          “It’s that hero’s blimp.  Well he’s about to find out the hard way what happens when he tries to mess with us.  Open fire on it boys.”  He gave the order and the group of men headed for the roof of the tower to shoot the airship out of the sky.  Unfortunately for them, they were met by two pairs of fists instead.  Bobbie heard the fighting on the roof and immediately bumped the timers on the explosives up so they would go off in two minutes.

          “Time to go boys!”  He called up the staircase and the goons quickly made attempts to get away from Robbie and Sportacus.  The two let them go as they rushed down inside the tower.  Bobbie had escaped through the door and now sirens could be heard in the background.

          “Help is coming.”  Robbie said as they quickly undid the gags in the girls’ mouths.

          “They’ve rigged this place to blow!  Get out of here!”  Stephanie jerked her head in the direction of the timer.  Sportacus saw the digits as they clicked down to only ten seconds before an imminent explosion.

          “Go!”  Stephanie yelled at Sportacus but he refused to listen.  He was untying the girls as fast as he could.  Tears ran down Stephanie’s face as she could see the timer continue to tick.  Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

          BOOM!


	22. Chapter 22

Sirens wailed as emergency crews rushed to the scene.  They had made only moments after the explosion but the sight before them was ablaze.  Debris fell from the sky as the firefighters hooked their hoses up and tried to get the blaze under control.  A pair of the brave firefighters was elected to enter the pile of rubble looking for survivors.  The chance was extremely small they would find entire bodies never mind finding them alive but they had to look.

          “What can we do?”  The SWAT team leader, Nathan Park, asked the Police Chief.

          “Fan out and search the closest buildings.  Maybe we’ll get lucky and catch whoever set off the explosives.”  Dooright shook his head.  It was a long shot but the less personnel getting in the way the better.

          “Someone had better call the Mayor.”  The Fire Chief said.

          “I take it your men didn’t find much?”  Dooright wondered.

          “EVRYBODY BACK UP!  SHE”S GOING DOWN!”  Came a shout from one of the men who had entered the building.  His partner was directly behind him.  Quickly everyone moved back and what was left of the roof of the tower collapsed into the pile of rubble beneath it.

          “Oh hell.”  The Police Chief muttered.  He knew whoever had been in there was dead.  They had to be.  The worst of it meant that Sportacus and Robbie were probably the ones who had charged in there.  Worse still if Stephanie and Susan had been in there. 

          “I can’t take this.”  Dooright shook his head.

          “What?  Who was in there?”  The Fire Chief hadn’t been filled in.  Quickly the situation was explained and the man went white.

          “You have to be kidding.”  He said.

          “I wish I were.  Now I have to call the Mayor and tell him his only surviving family member is dead again.”  Dooright knew it would crush Milford.  The man could barely stand it when she had “died” the first time.  Now it seemed it was for real and there would be no coming back. 

          White light surrounded her as Stephanie opened her eyes.  This was it.  She really was dead.

          “Stephanie!”  Pixel popped his face in front of hers.

          “Holy hell!”  She screamed as he had effectively managed to scare the living daylights out of her.

          “You’re alive!”  The Gizmo Guy was absolutely thrilled until she socked him in the face.

          “Ow! What was that for?”  He asked grabbing his nose.

          “For scaring me.”  She replied as she sat up from her prone position.  It was then that she noticed her arms were no longer tied at her sides.

          “Where is Sportacus?”  She wanted to know.

          “Over here.”  Pixel walked over to the next pad.  She noted he’d made modifications to the contraption that had scattered her parts through the air like a radio wave.  The above average hero was out like a light but there was something that bothered her.  There was blood on his shirt.  Quickly she pulled his vest off and then moved to pull his shirt up.  The only problem was that she found nothing there.   

          “Look at Susan and Robbie!  One of them is bleeding!”  She ordered.  The Gizmo Guy quickly went to the next pad and found Susan had blood from a wound on her shoulder.  It didn’t look serious but he wasn’t a medical professional either.

          “She’s bleeding from a wound in her shoulder.  I must have been too late with the coordinates.”  He cursed himself.

          “How is her breathing?”  Stephanie asked as she tried to rouse the above average hero.

          “Pretty good.  I’m calling nine-one-one.”  Pixel poked some buttons on his wristband and was putting in a call to paramedics when Sportacus woke up.

          “Wha’ ‘appened?”  He muttered.  What he got for an answer was a slap across the face.

          “Ow!”  That woke him up.

          “No time.  I’m going to get Robbie up.  Help Pixel.”  Stephanie told him.  Quickly the two got to work before the paramedics arrived.


	23. Chapter 23

The hospital was all a bustle with the usual activities.  People needed saving and that’s what they were good at.  It came as no surprise to see Sportacus, Stephanie, or Robbie, enter the medical facility, except for once they weren’t the ones that had been hurt.

          Susan was whisked away leaving the three friends in the waiting room.  A room that was all too familiar to all of them.

          “How did Pixel lock onto our signal?”  Sportacus asked as they waited for news on their new friend.

          “I have no idea.  One minute, I’m thinking we’re all dead and the next he’s scaring the shit out of me.”  Stephanie shrugged.

          “I hope someone called your uncle and told him you were ok.”  He told her as he took her left hand and held it.

          “I’d better go make a phone call.”  Stephanie realized as she opened her eyes wide.  She knew her uncle wouldn’t have been able to take another call like he’d gotten before and she only hoped the paramedics had called him or Chief Dooright.  Quickly, she went out into the hallway and found a phone, she could use.  Realizing that she didn’t have any money, she walked down to the nurses’ station to see if anyone had some change.

          “Hi Stephanie!”  One of the many familiar nurses greeted her.

          “Hi Deb.  Mind if I borrow some change for the phone?  I have to call my Uncle.”  The pink one wondered.

          “Oh just use the desk phone.”  The nice woman smiled and proceeded to connect to an outside line for her.

          “Thanks.”  Stephanie smiled and quickly dialed her Uncle, hoping he would pick up the phone soon.

          “So Robbie, I uh…” Sportacus’ voice trailed off.

          “You uh what?”  Robbie raised an eyebrow unsure where the hero was going with that sentence.

          “I appreciate all your help.”  He said.

          “Really because this is usually the part where I get yelled at.”  The ex-villain chuckled slightly.

          “No, I mean it.  I’m sure Susan will be fine and you can take the time explaining to her everything.  Well not everything but you know what I mean.”  Sportacus told him.  Robbie only nodded.  There were some details that had to be left out, like blowing up The Ministry’s headquarters but the rest seemed to be something she would need to know before they went any further.

          “How am I supposed to tell her what I used to be?”  He suddenly asked.  The above average hero was quiet for a few minutes before he replied,

          “Well I can personally vouch for you.  I think that will help.”

          “You’d do that?”  Robbie looked at him to be sure he wasn’t lying.  It was a bad habit the hero had picked up but then again desperate times called for desperate measures. 

          “Of course, what are friends for?”  Sportacus smiled.  The ex-con was about to answer when the doctor walked into the room and headed straight for them.

          “How bad is it Doc?”  Robbie asked.

          “Nothing serious.  We pulled some shrapnel from her right shoulder and forearm.  She should be able to go home tomorrow morning.  Now we’ve given her some pain pills and you’ll have to call me if she’s complaining about any pain.”  Doctor Budmark smiled.

          “Thanks Doctor.  We owe you one.”  Sportacus shook the man’s hand.

          “I think you owe me more than that.  I’m just glad it worked out.  I’m not sure how much more the three of you can take.”  The medical man teased.

          “This is true.”  Sportacus chuckled.

          “When can I see her?”  Robbie asked.

          “Very soon.  Come with me.”  Doctor Budmark took the purple wearing man down the hall and Sportacus promised to be there as soon as he found Stephanie.  She was along in a few moments a big smile on her face.

          “I take it the phone call went well?”  He asked as he pulled her close.

          “Yes and no but I’m feeling better now that I’ve talked to Uncle Milford.”  She looked up to his face.  He planted a small kiss on her forehead.

          “So what’s the bad news then?”  He wondered.

          “They still haven’t found the men who set off the explosives.  Seems they’re in the wind.”  She explained.

          “Then we will need to be very careful.  The Ministry will no doubt send more like them to come get us.”  The above average hero shook his head.


	24. Chapter 24

Two days later, the sun shone as usual and everyone in LazyTown went on about their usual business.  Well almost everyone.  Milford had left Stephanie in charge at his house as he was needed at Town Hall.  He’d been neglecting his paperwork and Bessie was fit to be tied especially since the next day there was a Town Board meeting.

          A knock on the door brought Stephanie’s focus off her oatmeal and she quickly got up to answer it.

          “Good morning.”  Sportacus smiled.  He leaned down and placed a quick kiss on her lips.

          “Morning to you.  What brings you over?  Don’t you have a town to watch?”  She teased him as she let him in.

          “No one to save at the moment unless you count Robbie.”  The above average hero smirked.

          “Oh?”  Stephanie’s interest was piqued.

          “He’s on his way over.  He probably wants to talk to Susan.  I know yesterday she really wasn’t up for it.”  He explained.

          “Ah then perhaps we’d better give them some alone time.  I’ll finish my oatmeal and pop on my sneakers.”  She quickly went back to the table and looked at her oatmeal.  For some reason she’d lost her appetite all of a sudden.  Sportacus seemed to sense this and sat down next to her.

          “What’s up?”  He asked.

          “Do you trust me?”  She suddenly wanted to know.

          “Of course.  Why would you ask such a thing?”  The above average hero looked at her confused.  He knew that she was upset with him for not spilling the details about her new special gift but they had discussed it and she’d seemed ok.  Before he got his answer however Robbie knocked on the door.

          “Good morning.  Is Susan decent?”  He wondered.

          “Of course.  Why don’t you come down the hall?”  Stephanie smiled at him and led the man with the cane down to her friend’s room.

          “Susan, it’s me.  Can I come in?”  Robbie asked through the door.

          “Of course.”  She sounded happy but the man had his doubts.

          “I’m leaving with Sportacus for awhile.  You guys need anything call my cell.”  Stephanie told him.  He nodded and the two went their separate ways.

          “Mind if we talk?”  He asked.

          “Yes, we do need to talk but first could you help me call the hospital back home.  I have to tell them I’ll be on vacation a little longer than I thought.”  Susan smiled and Robbie grabbed the phone off the dresser so she could make her phone call.

          Out in the kitchen, Stephanie grabbed her purse and Sportacus and dragged him out of the front door.

          “So where are we going?”  He asked as she continued to drag him. 

          “Your place.  We need privacy.”  She told him.  The rest of the journey was in silence until they had managed to climb the ladder and were inside the airship.

          “So what…”

          “I’m twenty-two almost twenty-three now.  Will I stay that way forever with my special antibodies?”  She interrupted as she pushed him down onto his bed.

          “The antibodies slow the aging process.  I was told that the oldest relative in my family was one hundred and forty when he died.”  He explained as he sat up.

          “How do I die then?”  Stephanie asked standing directly in front of him.

          “Well most of my family died horribly in shootings, explosions, and disasters.  That’s the chance we take everyday.  The antibodies can only cure injuries not death.  You know how in Highlander an immortal only dies when his or her head gets chopped off?  Kind of the same thing but for us there are multiple ways to go.  I explained to you how my parents died.”  Sportacus said.  Stephanie nodded.  Bullet wounds to vital organs would in fact kill most people no matter what they had in their blood stream.  The above average hero hoped she would explain where she was going with this.

          “We’ve managed to almost lose each other multiple times in the last four months and I’m not satisfied with where we stand together.”  The statement was strange and Sportacus had no response.  Sure they hadn’t been out on a lot of dates or had really been together without the group around in a long time but he was certainly not dissatisfied. 

          “We have each other.  How is that not satisfying?”  She knew he’d spent most of his life alone so even to have the knowledge of someone loving him was pretty good for him.  His surprise only increased when she pushed him back onto the bed and climbed up on top of him.

          “Whoa.”  Was all he managed before she planted one on him.  Something about this kiss was different than the ones they’d shared before and alarm bells went off in his head.  He ignored them and rolled over so that she was underneath him without breaking their contacting lips.  They fought for dominance for a few minutes before parting for air.

          “Stephanie, I…” he wasn’t sure what to say next.

          “I’m ready.”  The look in her chocolate brown eyes told him everything he needed to know.


	25. Epilogue

Meanwhile, at the new headquarters of The Ministry of Villains and Downright Naughtiness, Head Council Member Josam was listening to Bobbie explain what had occurred on their mission.  There was silence for a moment or so when he finished before Josam spoke up.

          “Anything else you’d care to add?”

          “Yes, if at all possible, I would like it if Doug was eliminated.  The man is a psychopath and a sexual deviant.  There is no way he should have received the shot of antibodies.”  Bobbie hoped the Council would at least consider the idea.

          “I’ll take that under advisement.  Did he jeopardize the mission?” Josam wanted to know.

          “Very nearly sir.  I had to remind him several times to get back to work and then on top of that he asked permission to sexually assault our pink prisoner; while we were preparing to blow up the tower.”  The hit man hoped it didn’t sound too much like whining.

          “I see.  Well one thing we do not tolerate is such insubordination.  Anything else on your mind?”  The Head Council Member wondered.

          “No, sir.”  Bobbie replied.

          “Good then perhaps you can explain to me why the women you intended to blow up are still alive?”  Josam’s icy glare melted and turned one of anger.

          “I have no idea sir.  We left them tied up with the bomb set to explode in exactly two minutes.  By the time that blue hero and his purple pajama-wearing friend got in there and untied them the bomb would have exploded.  They should all be dead.”  Bobbie said.  Josam pondered for a moment and then said,

          “We never discovered how they blew up our old headquarters and then got back to LazyTown without anyone discovering them at the scene.”

          “That could be how they escaped the explosion.”  Bobbie suggested.

          “Indeed.  That won’t matter when I kill them with my bare hands.”  Josam said.  His subordinate looked at him, confused.  The Head Council Member intended to do what?

**The End**


End file.
